Sheppard v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

12 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 12 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The following statements previously made by a witness who testifies at the trial or hearing and who is subject to cross-examination concerning the statement are not excluded by the hearsay rule: (a) A statement that is inconsistent with the declarant’s testimony, if the statement was (1) given under oath subject to the penalty of perjury at a trial, hearing, or other proceeding or in a deposition; (2) reduced to writing and signed by the declarant; or (3) recorded in substantially verbatim fashion by stenographic or electronic means contemporaneously with the making of the statement.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Poe v. State · Stewart v. State

2. “is sufficiently trustworthy to be offered as substantive evidence of guilt when the statement is based on the declar ant’s own knowledge of the facts, is reduced to writing and signed or otherwise adopted by him, and he is subject to cross-examination at the trial where the prior statement is introduced. (Emphasis supplied.)”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Makell v. State · Tyler v. State

3. “If a trial witness had earlier given a statement inconsistent with the witness’s later trial testimony, the prior statement was admissible only for the limited purpose of impeaching that witness’s testimonial credibility. The jury was instructed to use the prior statement only for that purpose and not to consider its content for the truth of the matter asserted therein. In that capacity, a prior inconsistent statement was non-hearsay, offered only for the fact that the earlier inconsistent words had been uttered, the truth of the words being immaterial.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Poe v. State